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January 21, 2002 President George W. Bush The White House Washington, DC Dear President Bush, On behalf of Action Canada for Population and Development, I want to add our voice to those of the members of Congress and many US and international organizations urging you to release funds in the amount of $34 million for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). UNFPA’s funds help some 140 countries to provide basic family planning and other reproductive health services. You will of course be aware of the work of the UNFPA, which has been instrumental in saving the lives of so many women and children around the world through improving the status of women and improving the quality of sexual and reproductive health care for women, men and their families. UNFPA’s work is unparalleled. UNFPA’s leadership and courage to deal with issues of such importance in diverse and difficult circumstances in many developing countries is a shining example within the UN system. It is therefore very difficult for organizations that work hard to promote sexual and reproductive health and rights for all, to understand why you as President would want to deny funding which has been allocated through the appropriate processes agreed to by Congress, and which has now been unaccountably delayed by your Administration. Allow me to remind you of the very great need for reproductive health services throughout the world. Every minute of every day, somewhere in the world: §
700 people acquire a preventable sexually
transmitted infection; §
380 women become pregnant; §
190 women face an unplanned or unwanted
pregnancy; §
110 women experience a pregnancy-related
complication; §
40 women have an unsafe abortion; §
1 woman dies from a pregnancy-related complication. There are thousands of organizations around the world
working to reduce these largely preventable deaths and injuries. Quality maternal health care is the single best way to save
mothers and their infants. However, only 53% of deliveries in developing
countries involve a skilled birth attendant. Just by increasing the time between births or delaying the
first birth, family planning could reduce infant and child mortality by up to
25%, saving three million children’s lives a year. Studies show that by spacing births, family planning
lowers mortality among both women and children, and also reduces the toll on
women’s health from repeated pregnancy, childbearing and sexually transmitted
infections. And while UNFPA does not perform abortions, it is clear that
provision of family planning services does in fact prevent abortions. Abortions
performed under unsafe conditions kill more than 75,000 women annually, roughly
1 of every 7 pregnancy-related deaths. Evidence from Russia and several Eastern
European countries shows that where family planning becomes widely available,
abortions rates plummet. At the International Conference on Population and
Development in 1994, 179 countries, including the USA, agreed that unsafe
abortion was a major health concern. Provision of basic reproductive health services would save lives now. Sexual and reproductive health services are a key component in development and in poverty eradication efforts. To ignore this aspect of health is to turn one’s back on the rest of the world. Please, I urge you to reconsider your decision in this matter. UNFPA deserves to be fully funded, for the sake of women, children and families everywhere. Yours truly, Katherine McDonald Executive Director C.C. Prime Minister Jean Chrétien The Honourable Susan Whelan, Minister for International Cooperation Action Canada for Population and Development was formed in 1997 with a mission to promote the commitment of Canadians to population and development issues in order to enhance the quality of life of children and subsequent generations in Canada and around the world. Through dialogue, education, advocacy and coalition building, ACPD supports and advances action on population and development, including full implementation of the Cairo Programme of Action.
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